WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said that American forces had struck Iran again in honour of three US service members believed to have died, while asserting that Tehran had suffered extensive military damage and no longer controlled the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump spoke briefly to the White House press pool after stepping off Air Force One and before boarding Marine One.
“Well, we feel very badly, but you know those great people, those great patriots, were out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said when asked about the service members.
“Iran has been very, very badly damaged. They've lost everything almost militarily. They've got very little left. They've got some missiles. They've got some drones. They've got some manufacturing ability, not much,” he said.
Trump asserted that the United States was now in control of the strategically important waterway through which a major share of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments pass.
“We control the straight; they don't control anything. So we'll see what happens,” he said. “But we hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honor of the probably three. It's probably three as opposed to two great patriots.”
Trump did not provide the identities of the service members or further details about the circumstances of their deaths during his brief interaction with reporters.
The president also answered a question about a Qatari aircraft intended for use as Air Force One and its missile defence capabilities.
“Well, it has it has a lot, and you know it has a lot of capability, but as I understand it, in about a month or so, they're going to send it to have it be maxed out,” Trump said. “So they're going to be sending it, and they'll have it be maxed out. It'll take about a month.”
Trump separately said he had spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about smoke from wildfires in Canada drifting into the United States.
“I told them. I mean, you got to stop these fires from coming in and you know poisoning our air. Our air has been poisoned,” he said.
“Have a good relationship with Mark Carney, but you know we got to stop the fires up there. If we can help them, we'll help them. But maybe they should pay us some damages or something, or we should do some tariffs.”
Asked whether he had tensions with Spain after its World Cup victory, Trump replied: “No, I have no tension. I have no tension with anybody.”
The Strait of Hormuz, connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, is among the world’s most important energy corridors. Any military confrontation affecting the passage can disrupt shipping and place upward pressure on global energy prices, with consequences for oil-importing countries such as India.
--IANS
